Starting to like the sound of President Pawlenty...

[Reaganfan]

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is up for re-election, and is rather popular, and will probably win in 2006. If so, this could gear Governor Pawlenty up for the 2008 Republican Nomination. Karl Rove has recently traveled to Minnesota to help Pawlenty in his re-election bid for Governor.

Today, on a political forum, I came up with an electoral map of a possible matchup. If Governor Pawlenty runs, he basically pulls all the Bush 2004 states, plus New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This would bring the GOP 310 electoral votes, and if Pawlenty could even pull Pennsylvania, then that would be 331 Electoral votes, and a considered landslide for the Republican party.

Pawlently is conseravtive enough to get the nomination, and even a man in Minnesota has begun making Tim Pawlenty 2008 shirts LOL. He will be 48 years old in 2008, and quite frankly, he can beat almost any democrat they run. Could Tim Pawlenty be the dark horse that nobody expects, and become the 44th President of the United States?

[Moooooo]

Pawlenty pulls the states you mentioned against Clark.  Thats what the previous thread was discussing... A Clark vs Pawlenty matchup.  Against a formidable Democratic ticket like, Warner/Lincoln, Bayh/Lincoln, or Bayh/Feingold, he could lose all of those states you mentioned, plus some.

[Inverted Things]

I couldn't find any polls showing Pawlenty's approval rating recently. I think I recall it being as low as 40% and as high as 65%.

EDIT: His approval rating is 56% as of 3/13/05

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

His approval rating yo-yos, based on wehther or not he's under fire for pissing some group off at the moment. He is far from extremely popular, and has a good 45% of the state very pissed off at him and won't be voting for him under any circumstances, much like Bush. Of course that didn't do Bush in so he could win, but even the state GOP admits he'll have a tough reelection battle against Attorney General Mike Hatch, probably the most popular statewide elected official. And he didn't top 50% in his first election. In fact, he didn't even break 45%.

For the most part I think of him as a cheap political opportunist who likes to raise a fit on wedge issues while ignoring things of actual importance. See death penalty and gay marriage ban bills the DFL Senate killed. The GOP were hoping to rely on these wedge issues to get themselves some midterm gains. Ooops, they only lost 13 House seats and almost control of the House. that probably gave him some hard sweating.

I'll admit though, he makes more sense than Coleman. At least he has the distinction of being very complacent to the agenda of the extremist Minnesota Taxpayers League, unlike Coleman, who is completely worthless. But even if he wins reelection, a guy who didn't even win 45% on his first term, and can only get about 51% or so in a very divided politically state who's unable to push most of his agenda through (google "Cheri Yecke") is hardly a dream candidate.

[AuH2O]

He has some potential but certainly isn't at the top of the list. But in any case he's not a true dark horse because there are only a few identifiable candidates well ahead of him at this point.

[TheresNoMoney]

I know very little about him but his wife looks pretty hot in that picture.

[Reaganfan]

I agree.

[Joe Republic]

Pawlenty would be a good candidate, but certainly not undefeatable.  Plus, he has to win re-election first, which is hardly guaranteed either.

[Inverted Things]

My thoughts on Pawlenty:

I like him going head-to-head with Bush on importing prescription drugs from Canada. "Show me the dead Canadians."

I somewhat like him looking into state-sponsored gambling.

I dislike him trying to reinstate the death penalty.

I dislike him flat-out refusing to cut spending or raise taxes (one or the other really should be done).

Overall, I'd say I like him more than the average Republican.

I'd choose Pawlently over Bayh, Warner or any Republican with a chance in 2004. Of course, I'm a 3rd party supporter, so this vote of confidence means nothing.

[MODU]

I'd choose Pawlently over Bayh, Warner or any Republican with a chance in 2004. Of course, I'm a 3rd party supporter, so this vote of confidence means nothing.

Join the few . . . the proud . . . and the growing in numbers. 

[MissCatholic]

A Pawlenty/Guiliani ticket could be interesting against the democrats. But i still think that Pawlenty would find it tough to win Minnnesota if the democrats have a good candidate.

[Bob Dole '96]

I still think we are in deep doo-doo without Jeb, but Pawlenty is the one governor who I think could rise up and surprise.  I need to see more of him before making a firm judgement though.

He would be a great VP choice, if Jeb ran.

[Smash255]

I still think we are in deep doo-doo without Jeb, but Pawlenty is the one governor who I think could rise up and surprise.  I need to see more of him before making a firm judgement though.

He would be a great VP choice, if Jeb ran.

Too much Bush Fatigue.  No Jeb.  Pawlenty might do pretty well, but its really hard to say.  If he doesn't win re-election (which is probably 50/50 at this point) he has no chance in hell.  If he does win re-election and gets the nomination he could really help the GOP in the Midwest, especially if the Dem candidate is from the NorthEast.  If the Dem candidate is from the midwest (Like Feingold or Bayh) Pawlentey's appeal towards the midwest would pretty much be taken away & it could make it really tough for him to carry his own state

[Max Power]

Pawlenty is too much of a maverick for the Republicans (as in he thinks for himself). They want somebody who just does what Dick Cheney or some other Republican tells them to do.

[No more McShame]

Pawlenty is too much of a maverick for the Republicans (as in he thinks for himself). They want somebody who just does what Dick Cheney or some other Republican tells them to do.

That's B.S. if I've ever heard it.

[Joe Republic]

Pawlenty is too much of a maverick for the Republicans (as in he thinks for himself). They want somebody who just does what Dick Cheney or some other Republican tells them to do.

That's B.S. if I've ever heard it.

No you see FuturePrez, the Republican nominee has to be in the pocket of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy!  It all makes sense!

[No more McShame]

LOL, I just liked the comment about doing what Dick Cheney tells him to do when Cheney has publicly disagreed with his boss' support for a constitutional amendment for gay marriage.